component

A smaller, self-contained part of a larger entity. Often refers to a manufactured object that is part of a larger device.

Adjective

  1. Making up a larger whole.
    • a component word
  2. Made up of smaller complete units in combination.
    • a component stereo

Origin

Borrowed from Latin compōnēns, compōnēntis, present participle of compōnō (“assemble, put together”).

Noun

  1. A smaller, self-contained part of a larger entity. Often refers to a manufactured object that is part of a larger device.
    • A CPU is a component of a computer.
    • Oxygen levels on Earth skyrocketed 2.4 billion years ago, when cyanobacteria evolved photosynthesis:[…]. The evolutionary precursor of photosynthesis is still under debate, and a new study sheds light. The critical...
    • Lying is a key component of communism. - 2020 April 17, Yi Yan, “Chinese People Are Victims of the Chinese Communist Party's Lies”, in Minghui:
  2. A connected subgraph that is not part of any larger connected subgraph.

Forms

components

Derived

bicomponent biocomponent componence componental componented componential componentise componentization componentize componentless component-oriented componentry component video componentwise connected component discrete component eigencomponent Fatou component hemocomponent intercomponent intracomponent macrocomponent microcomponent monocomponent